By Jeremy Gordon
on July 28, 2015 at 12:54 p.m. EDT

Lee "Scratch" Perry's classic 1976 Upsetters album Super Ape turns 40 next year. To celebrate, Perry will be performing the album in full at shows this fall. A Kickstarter has been launched to bring the gorilla from the cover of Super Ape (pictured above) to life for the tour, in the form of a giant inflatable prop.

By Carrie Battan
on June 22, 2012 at 2:54 p.m. EDT

The Orb and Lee "Scratch" Perry: "Hold Me Upsetter"

Fun fact: Oddball reggae legend Lee "Scratch" Perry's tour manager also manages Lil B. They're musically dissimilar artists, but their freewheeling and cosmic approaches to artistry match up in a way that the manager thing doesn't feel at all coincidental. The same can be said of Perry and UK dance vets The Orb, who teamed up with him on a new album called The Orbserver in the Star House out on August 28 through the End Records.

By Tom Breihan
on June 22, 2011 at 12:45 p.m. EDT

"MindKilla" is a mutant-funk standout track on Gang Gang Dance's BNM'ed new album Eye Contact. And now, the band has recruited someone very special to remix it: The reggae production genius and legendary weirdo Lee "Scratch" Perry. Perry's eight-minute remix features a robotic one-drop beat and his own mystifying vocals, and you can hear it above.

By Larry Fitzmaurice
on May 9, 2011 at 2:25 p.m. EDT

Rome, Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi's forthcoming spaghetti western-inspired album featuring vocal contributions from Jack White and Norah Jones, is out May 17 via Capitol Records in the U.S. Now, you can stream the album in its entirety, via NPR Music.

That's only one of quite a few new albums streaming in full online now. We've got more listed below.

By Tom Breihan
on April 11, 2011 at 4:15 p.m. EDT

Many of the videos from Diplo and Switch's reggae-addled dance project Major Lazer are crude cartoons that star a one-armed Jamaican commando named Major Lazer. Pretty soon, the cartoon Major Lazer will get a chance to enter your living room in something longer than a three-minute music video, as Diplo and Switch are getting their own show as a part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.

By Larry Fitzmaurice
on April 1, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. EDT

On May 10, zonked-out dub eccentric Lee "Scratch" Perry will release his latest album, Rise Again, via legendary NYC-based producer Bill Laswell's (Motörhead, Herbie Hancock) MOD Technologies label. Scratch worked with Laswell on the LP; other contributors on the record include P-Funk's Bernie Worrell, Sly and Robbie's Sly Dunbar, Jahdan Blakkamoore, and TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, who pitches in on the track you can listen to above, "Higher Level". We've got the tracklist for you below.

By Tom Breihan
on March 16, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. EDT

-- In a statement on their website, the organizers of the SonarSoundToyko festival announce that they hope the fest, scheduled for April 2-3, will proceed as planned, but that the devastating earthquake and tsunami that recently hit Japan have thrown the festival into some doubt: "We have been in permanent contact with our Japanese partners and friends to ascertain the true extent of the situation as it has developed." The festival's lineup includes Battles, Flying Lotus, Modeselektor, Kode9, Seefeel, Hudson Mohawke, DJ Krush, and others.

-- The Upsetter is a new documentary about reggae production innovator and legendary weirdo Lee "Scratch" Perry. Co-director Adam Bhala-Lough previously directed the great Lil Wayne doc The Carter, and Benicio Del Toro narrates. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will premiere March 25 at L.A.'s Downtown Independent, and you can watch the trailer here.

-- Pianist singer-songwriter Baby Dee will release her new album Regifted Light March 22 on Drag City. Andrew W.K. produced the record.

-- On March 22, Swedish psych-rockers Soundtrack of Our Lives will release the greatest-hits collection Golden Greats No. 1, via Little W Productions. Right now, you can visit the band's website and enter your email address into a widget to download their new single "Karmageddon".